What follows is the very briefest of histories of the island. We hope this will encourage the reader to delve into the rich history of the island of Sicily. The first major clash for hegemony was the struggle between the Greek and Phoenician colonies followed by the internal conflicts between the Greeks, such as the disastrous Athenian expedition (415-413 BC). Carthage then became involved in a protracted war for control of Sicily (580-265 BC). There was a brief Pyrrhic experience (278-275 BC); he proved so popular that the Sicilians invited the Carthaginians back!
During the First Punic War (264-241 BC), Rome expelled the Carthaginians, capturing most of Sicily except Syracuse, which
